Are you reading this on a mobile device? Or, do you wish you were sitting on your couch (or in the “library”) reading this on a tablet or smartphone? Then you understand. Because, like everyone else, you enjoy using your smartphone and tablet to search, research, and make purchases.

I could give you a lot of statistics and factual information to prove to you that you need a mobile site. Instead of giving you all the facts I found, I’ll share five really good ones.

• 1 in 4 searches are conducted on a smartphone
• 9 out of 10 smartphone searches result in a visit or purchase
• 95% of mobile users use their devices for local search
• 3 out of every 5 searches are conducted on a mobile device (includes tablets)
• When a search is conducted on a mobile device, mobile-friendly websites appear first

If, like most business owners, you are concentrating on running your business and don’t necessarily have your thumb on the pulse of online marketing, you might find some of this information surprising.  Knowing that the web-friendliness of your website is so crucial to the success of your business, what do you do now?

There are two options.

My second choice is that you create (or have someone like me create) a website that is for mobile only. Mobile only sights usually include the name of your business, a photo or two, and a few large buttons for fat fingers. These buttons usually include the basic information for your business, such as your hours, location, a list of services, and a button to take the site visitor to the main website. A mobile version of your real website is better than nothing, but not my first choice. Here’s why:

• If you make changes to your website, those changes don’t automatically change on your mobile site. That’s a separate chore.
• If someone has been on the desktop version of your website, then later looks at the mobile version of your website, the two will be very different. People don’t like that. Do you? Like you, they prefer their experience of your site to be the same or similar on whatever device they use.
• Not all of the important information is available on the mobile-only site. Many websites invite the site visitors to view the main site for other information, that then becomes difficult or impossible to read on the device.

My first choice is for your business to (have me) create a website using responsive design. A responsive design website automatically adjusts to the screen on which you are viewing it. It is optimized for any device. Plus, Google likes it best, and that’s as good a reason as any to have one made. I recommend you give Google what it wants, as it makes it easier for people to find you who use Google. Here are a few details you need to know about responsive design:

• It’s one website; for large screen, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. It knows what size device it’s being viewed on and it adjusts, or optimizes, automatically. So, if you make changes to your website, there’s not an extra mobile site to worry about.
• Responsive design is about both programming and design/layout. A responsive website must by necessity be simple. This is because, from the very beginning of the design process, how it will look on mobile is an important consideration.
• People like to have a seamless experience between devices, and many people will visit the same website numerous times before making the purchase. Responsive design allows your site visitors to have the consistency they crave.

Give Google what they want. Give your potential customers and site visitors what they want. Get a mobile-friendly website.

Hollie Niblett is the owner and content strategist at Maya Creative Group. For information about making your online marketing more effective, shoot her an email!